Jennifer Doleac Podcasts

David Eil talks with Chris Blattman about his book, "Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace." *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work!By Jennifer Doleac

Zoë Cullen talks about how to incentivize employers to hire workers with criminal records. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work!By Jennifer Doleac

Pedro Souza talks about the effects of police body-worn cameras in Brazil. “De-escalation Technology: The Impact of Body-worn Cameras on Citizen-police Interactions” by Daniel AC Barbosa, Thiemo Fetzer, Caterina Soto and Pedro CL Souza *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you enjoy the show, please conside…

Aurelie Ouss talks about using insights from behavioral economics to reduce failures-to-appear in court. This episode was first posted in January 2020. "Nudging Crime Policy: Reducing Failures to Appear for Court" by Alissa Fishbane, Aurelie Ouss, and Anuj K. Shah. (Available from the authors upon request.) Related policy paper: "Using Behavioral S…

Randi Hjalmarsson talks about how punishment severity affects juries' decisions to convict. This episode was first posted in June 2020. "How Punishment Severity Affects Jury Verdicts: Evidence from Two Natural Experiments" by Anna Bindler and Randi Hjalmarsson. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you en…

Molly Schnell talks about how exposure to school shootings affects students. “Trauma at School: The Impacts of Shootings on Students’ Human Capital and Economic Outcomes” by Marika Cabral, Bokyung Kim, Maya Rossin-Slater, Molly Schnell, and Hannes Schwandt *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you enjoy the…

David Eil talks with Sarah Lageson about her book, "Digital Punishment: Privacy, Stigma, and the Harms of Data-Driven Criminal Justice." *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work!…

Andrew Barr talks about how access to nutritional assistance in early childhood affects later criminal behavior. “Fighting Crime in the Cradle: The Effects of Early Childhood Access to Nutritional Assistance” by Andrew Barr and Alexander A. Smith *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, p…

David Phillips talks about connecting people released from jail with mental health care. “Reducing Re-arrests through Light Touch Mental Health Outreach” by Mary Kate Batistich, William N. Evans and David C. Phillips *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-de…

Aaron Chalfin talks about the professional motivations of police officers. “The Professional Motivations of Police Officers” by Aaron Chalfin and Felipe Goncalves. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our w…

Felipe Goncalves talks about how reductions in police enforcement activity affect crime. “Do Police Make Too Many Arrests? The Effect of Enforcement Pullbacks on Crime” by Sungwoo Cho, Felipe Goncalves, and Emily Weisburst. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a…

Jason Baron talks about how foster care placement affects future criminal justice contact. “Is There a Foster Care-To-Prison Pipeline? Evidence from Quasi-Random Investigator Assignment” by E. Jason Baron and Max Gross. [Working paper available by request from the authors.] *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporati…

Elizabeth Luh talks about detecting racial bias in police stops. “Not so Black and White: Uncovering Racial Bias from Systematically Misreported Trooper Reports” by Elizabeth Luh. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for …

Yotam Shem-Tov talks about how a restorative justice diversion program for San Francisco youth affected recidivism. “Can Restorative Justice Conferencing Reduce Recidivism? Evidence From the Make-it-Right Program” by Yotam Shem-Tov, Steven Raphael, and Alissa Skog. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If yo…

Santiago Tobón talks about why gangs govern particular areas, and what to do about it. “Gang Rule: Understanding and Countering Criminal Governance” by Christopher Blattman, Gustavo Duncan, Benjamin Lessing, and Santiago Tobón. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider maki…

Elisa Jácome talks about how access to mental health care affects criminal behavior. “Mental Health and Criminal Involvement: Evidence from Losing Medicaid Eligibility” by Elisa Jácome. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank yo…

Aaron Chalfin talks about the effects of street lighting on crime. This episode was first posted in October 2019. "Reducing Crime Through Environmental Design: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment of Street Lighting in New York City" by Aaron Chalfin, Benjamin Hansen, Jason Lerner, and Lucie Parker. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiat…

David Eil talks with Carissa Byrne Hessick about her book, "Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal." *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work!…

Sara Heller talks about summer youth employment programs. This episode was first posted in March 2020. "Summer Jobs Reduce Violence Among Disadvantaged Youth" by Sara B. Heller. "Rethinking the Benefits of Youth Employment Programs: The Heterogeneous Effects of Summer Jobs" by Jonathan M.V. Davis and Sara B. Heller *** Probable Causation is part of…

Effective Altruism: Ten Global Problems is a collection of ten top episodes of the 80,000 Hours Podcast, designed to bring you up to speed on ten pressing issues the effective altruism community is working to solve. Here the host of the show — Rob Wiblin — briefly explains what effective altruism is all about, and what to expect from the rest of th…

In 2020, Oxford academic and 80,000 Hours trustee Dr Toby Ord released his book The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity. It's about how our long-term future could be better than almost anyone believes, but also how humanity's recklessness is putting that future at grave risk — in Toby's reckoning, a 1 in 6 chance of being extingu…

If I told you it’s possible to deliver an extra year of ideal primary-level education for 30 cents, would you believe me? Hopefully not – the claim is absurd on its face. But it may be true nonetheless. The very best education interventions are phenomenally cost-effective, but they’re not the kinds of things you’d expect, says Dr Rachel Glennerster…

COVID-19 has provided a vivid reminder of the damage biological threats can do. But the threat doesn’t come from natural sources alone. Weaponized contagious diseases — which were abandoned by the United States, but developed in large numbers by the Soviet Union, right up until its collapse — have the potential to spread globally and kill just as m…

Brian Christian is a bestselling author with a particular knack for accurately communicating difficult or technical ideas from both mathematics and computer science. The 80,000 Hours team found his new book The Alignment Problem to be an insightful and comprehensive review of the state of the research into making advanced artificial intelligence us…

Every year tens of billions of animals are raised in terrible conditions in factory farms before being killed for human consumption. Despite the enormous scale of suffering this causes, the issue is largely neglected, with only about $50 million dollars spent each year tackling the problem globally. Since 2015, Lewis Bollard has led Open Philanthro…

The killing of George Floyd has prompted a great deal of debate over whether the US should shrink its police departments. The research literature suggests that the presence of police officers does reduce crime, though they’re not cheap, and as is increasingly recognised, impose substantial harms on the populations they are meant to be protecting, e…

How many words in U.S. newspapers have been spilled on tax policy in the past five years? And how many words on CRISPR? Or meat alternatives? Or how AI may soon automate the majority of jobs? When people look back on this era, is the interesting thing going to have been fights over whether or not the top marginal tax rate was 39.5% or 35.4%, or is …

A golf-ball sized lump of uranium can deliver more than enough power to cover all your lifetime energy use. To get the same energy from coal, you’d need 3,200 tonnes of the stuff — a mass equivalent to 800 adult elephants, which would go on to produce more than 11,000 tonnes of CO2. That’s about 11,000 tonnes more than the uranium. Many people aren…

If a nuclear winter or asteroid impact blocked the sun for years, our inability to grow food would result in billions dying of starvation, right? According to Dr Dave Denkenberger, co-author of Feeding Everyone No Matter What: no. If he’s to be believed, nobody need starve at all. Even without the sun, Dave sees the Earth as a bountiful food source…

Most animals are hunted by predators, and constantly have to remain vigilant lest they be killed, and perhaps experience the terror of being eaten alive. Resource competition often leads to chronic hunger or starvation. Their diseases and injuries are never treated. In winter wild animals freeze to death and in droughts they die of heat or thirst. …

Now you've finished Effective Altruism: Ten Global Problems, here's what we suggest you do next.By 80,000 Hours

Kerri Raissian talks about the effects of domestic violence courts. “Specialization in Criminal Courts: Decision Making, Recidivism, and Re-victimization in Domestic Violence Courts in Tennessee” by Aria Golestani, Emily Owens, and Kerri Raissian. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, …

Guest host Amanda Agan talks with Jennifer Doleac about how DNA databases affect crime and recidivism. “The Effects of DNA Databases on the Deterrence and Detection of Offenders” by Anne Sofie Tegner Anker, Jennifer L. Doleac, and Rasmus Landersø. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, …

Giovanni Mastrobuoni talks about how predictive policing affects crime. “Crime is Terribly Revealing: Information Technology and Police Productivity” by Giovanni Mastrobuoni. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for suppo…

Gaurav Khanna talks about how incentives to engage in formal employment affect criminal behavior in Colombia. “Formal Employment and Organized Crime: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Colombia” by Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If y…

Morgan Williams Jr. talks about the race-specific effects of policing. "Police Force Size and Civilian Race" by Aaron Chalfin, Benjamin Hansen, Emily Weisburst, and Morgan Williams, Jr. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank yo…

David Eil talks with Hannah Walker about her book, "Mobilized by Injustice: Criminal Justice Contact, Political Participation, and Race." *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work!…

Carolina Arteaga talks about how parental incarceration affects kids' education outcomes. “Parental Incarceration and Children’s Educational Attainment” by Carolina Arteaga. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for suppor…

Heyu Xiong talks about on how legalizing marijuana affects those with histories of selling marijuana illegally. “Displacement in the Criminal Labor Market: Evidence from Drug Legalizations” by Heyu Xiong. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible con…

David Eil talks with Gregg Caruso about his book, "Rejecting Retributivism: Free Will, Punishment, and Criminal Justice." *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work!…

Katherine Eriksson talks about how access to education affected incarceration in the early 20th century. "Education and Incarceration in the Jim Crow South: Evidence from Rosenwald Schools" by Katherine Eriksson. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deduct…

Amanda Agan, Anna Harvey, and host Jennifer Doleac talk about the consequences of prosecuting defendants for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses. "Misdemeanor Prosecution" by Amanda Agan, Jennifer Doleac, and Anna Harvey. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-d…

Ariel White talks about the effect of short jail spells on subsequent voting behavior. This episode was first posted in October 2019. "Misdemeanor Disenfranchisement? The Demobilizing Effects of Brief Jail Spells on Potential Voters" by Ariel White. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show…

Manisha Shah talks about the effects of criminalizing sex work. This episode was first posted in June 2019. “Crimes against Morality: Unintended Consequences of Criminalizing Sex Work” by Lisa Cameron, Jennifer Muz, and Manisha Shah. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please conside…

Desmond Ang talks about how police violence affects local students' academic achievement and well-being. "The Effects of Police Violence on Inner-City Students" by Desmond Ang. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for sup…

Michael Makowsky talks about how increasing hourly wages, through the minimum wage and EITC, affects recidivism. "The Minimum Wage, EITC, and Criminal Recidivism" by Amanda Agan and Michael Makowsky. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribu…

Cody Tuttle talks about how banning people with criminal records from receiving SNAP benefits affects recidivism. "Snapping Back: Food Stamp Bans and Criminal Recidivism" by Cody Tuttle. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank y…

Greg Midgette talks about the effects of 24/7 Sobriety — a program for defendants with alcohol-related offenses, based on swift-certain-fair principles. “Criminal Deterrence: Evidence from an Individual‐Level Analysis of 24/7 Sobriety” by Beau Kilmer and Greg Midgette. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. I…

David Eil talks with Erin Kelly about her book, "The Limits of Blame: Rethinking Punishment and Responsibility." *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporation. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work! *** OTHER ITEMS WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE: Ju…

Anna Harvey talks about how court-ordered affirmative action in police departments affected racial disparities in crime victimization. “Reducing Racial Disparities in Crime Victimization: Evidence from Employment Discrimination Litigation” by Anna Harvey and Taylor Mattia. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) corporatio…